On Monday, September 21, you will have the opportunity to enjoy a round of golf with friends and make a difference for graduate education at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT). Play 18 holes, sponsor the event and promote your business to people from all over the Bay Area, or just join us for dinner and a raffle. Raffle prizes include vacation packages, electronic devices and more. All of the proceeds will go directly to providing our students with a solid, affordable academic foundation for their life’s work. Sponsorship levels range from Table Sponsor for $250 to Title Sponsor for $5,000. Registration is $150 per player. Substantial discounts are available for 2 or more foursomes.
Please visit us at www.dspt.edu or call 1-888-450-3778 to register today.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
New Chair of the DSPT Board of Trustees
At the April meeting of the Board of Trustees, Eileen K. Bitten was elected Chair of the Board of Trustees, succeeding Robert Andres, who served for four years as Board Chair. Eileen joined the Board in 2006, and has served on the audit committee and the development committee, which she has chaired.
Eileen’s professional background includes over thirty five years of Human Resource Administration in both private and public sector organizations, thirty years of which was at the executive level. She was involved in policy formulation and implementation of programs covering compensation, selection, training, employee relations, employee benefits and affirmative action. She has served as representative on numerous task forces and special committees at the local, state and national levels.
Eileen brings to DSPT an extensive experience on other boards. She has served: as President of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources, Western Region; as a member of the International Executive Council, International Public Management Association for Human Resources; as Chief Executive Officer for Civil Service Boards serving three separate jurisdictions; as Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Community of Harbor Bay Isle; as Member, Board of Directors for Battered Women’s Programs Southern Alameda County and as Member, Board of Directors of CLASS, a community based organization which interacts with the Port of Oakland and the Oakland Airport.
Eileen is particularly interested in the role of the Board of Trustees in assisting to formulate long and short range strategic goals in support of the mission of DSPT, in securing the financial resources necessary for the school to carry out its mission, in enhancing the visibility of the school within the Catholic community, and in the institutional evaluation of the school in the light of its mission.
We deeply appreciate Eileen’s commitment to DSPT and her willingness to undertake the further responsibility of chairing the Board of Trustees.
Eileen’s professional background includes over thirty five years of Human Resource Administration in both private and public sector organizations, thirty years of which was at the executive level. She was involved in policy formulation and implementation of programs covering compensation, selection, training, employee relations, employee benefits and affirmative action. She has served as representative on numerous task forces and special committees at the local, state and national levels.
Eileen brings to DSPT an extensive experience on other boards. She has served: as President of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources, Western Region; as a member of the International Executive Council, International Public Management Association for Human Resources; as Chief Executive Officer for Civil Service Boards serving three separate jurisdictions; as Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Community of Harbor Bay Isle; as Member, Board of Directors for Battered Women’s Programs Southern Alameda County and as Member, Board of Directors of CLASS, a community based organization which interacts with the Port of Oakland and the Oakland Airport.
Eileen is particularly interested in the role of the Board of Trustees in assisting to formulate long and short range strategic goals in support of the mission of DSPT, in securing the financial resources necessary for the school to carry out its mission, in enhancing the visibility of the school within the Catholic community, and in the institutional evaluation of the school in the light of its mission.
We deeply appreciate Eileen’s commitment to DSPT and her willingness to undertake the further responsibility of chairing the Board of Trustees.
Reflections on Salesian Retreat led by Fr. Michael Sweeney, O.P.
by Fr. Timothy Ploch, SDB
Originally published in the July 6 2009 edition of "In Touch"
The first [Salesian] retreat of the year was concluded last Friday. For me it was an exceptional blessing. Three Rivers is a gorgeous setting for a retreat experience, except perhaps, if you’re like me, for the heat... Of particular meaning for me was the chance to spend some time with so many confreres from all over the province.
The preacher was Fr. Michael Sweeney, OP, President of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) in Berkeley. WOW! He admitted that he came to us and to our documents, which he had obviously read thoroughly, as a visitor. Some visitors come and go clueless, but Michael brought a depth of religious life, philosophical training, and theological grounding rarely heard from most visitors.
Here are some of the points he emphasized that will stay with me for a long time. The Salesian program of spiritual and apostolic life expressed in Don Bosco’s motto, Da Mihi Animas, Cetera Tolle, Michael saw with such fresh eyes. He brought out new aspects that only helped to understand our own GC26 in a deeper way. He saw DMACT as a bold prayer to God telling him what we want from him, a mystical experience of the apostolic mission (Da Mihi Animas) coupled with a robust asceticism (Cetera Tolle).
Our charism was given to Don Bosco by the Holy Spirit for the good of the whole church. Now it resides in the Salesian Society as a whole and in the local fraternal and apostolic community, not in individuals. Thus if the young are to be introduced into what Salesian is all about, it has to be through a community, regardless of how “charismatic” an individual Salesian may or not be.
There are three aspects to our charism: the call to holiness, the call to communion, and the call to apostolic witness. With almost poetic flights of philosophy, Michael led us to understand that to seek souls is to allow God to save them. To be saved means to be safe, to have a place, to have a voice. Is that not precisely what we are called to bring to the young and the poor, to make them know they are loved, saved?
Don Bosco anticipated Vatican II with his notion that lay and consecrated alike could share the charism. It is not a matter of we SDBs having a charism for the non SDBs, but rather SDBs and lay people together having it for the young and the poor.
I’m not doing Michael justice with these brief reflections. You had to be there! I hope, with his permission, we will be able to make his insights available to the whole Salesian Family in published form.
Originally published in the July 6 2009 edition of "In Touch"
The first [Salesian] retreat of the year was concluded last Friday. For me it was an exceptional blessing. Three Rivers is a gorgeous setting for a retreat experience, except perhaps, if you’re like me, for the heat... Of particular meaning for me was the chance to spend some time with so many confreres from all over the province.
The preacher was Fr. Michael Sweeney, OP, President of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) in Berkeley. WOW! He admitted that he came to us and to our documents, which he had obviously read thoroughly, as a visitor. Some visitors come and go clueless, but Michael brought a depth of religious life, philosophical training, and theological grounding rarely heard from most visitors.
Here are some of the points he emphasized that will stay with me for a long time. The Salesian program of spiritual and apostolic life expressed in Don Bosco’s motto, Da Mihi Animas, Cetera Tolle, Michael saw with such fresh eyes. He brought out new aspects that only helped to understand our own GC26 in a deeper way. He saw DMACT as a bold prayer to God telling him what we want from him, a mystical experience of the apostolic mission (Da Mihi Animas) coupled with a robust asceticism (Cetera Tolle).
Our charism was given to Don Bosco by the Holy Spirit for the good of the whole church. Now it resides in the Salesian Society as a whole and in the local fraternal and apostolic community, not in individuals. Thus if the young are to be introduced into what Salesian is all about, it has to be through a community, regardless of how “charismatic” an individual Salesian may or not be.
There are three aspects to our charism: the call to holiness, the call to communion, and the call to apostolic witness. With almost poetic flights of philosophy, Michael led us to understand that to seek souls is to allow God to save them. To be saved means to be safe, to have a place, to have a voice. Is that not precisely what we are called to bring to the young and the poor, to make them know they are loved, saved?
Don Bosco anticipated Vatican II with his notion that lay and consecrated alike could share the charism. It is not a matter of we SDBs having a charism for the non SDBs, but rather SDBs and lay people together having it for the young and the poor.
I’m not doing Michael justice with these brief reflections. You had to be there! I hope, with his permission, we will be able to make his insights available to the whole Salesian Family in published form.
August 2009:Faculty News
Fr. Bryan Kromholtz, OP, assistant professor of theology at DSPT, recently published “La résurrection au dernier jour selon saint Thomas d’Aquin” (Revue Thomiste 109 (2009), pp. 55-78), a study of St. Thomas Aquinas’s theology of the general resurrection. The French-language article is based on his recently completed doctoral research at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Fr. Bryan’s doctoral dissertation (written in English) is currently under consideration for publication.
Alumni Profile: Colleen Power, MA Theology, Religion and Art (2007)
I came to DSPT from Fort Worth, TX determined to break out of my hermit-like habits and immerse myself in both the school and church communities. I had no idea how successful I would be. Before my first day of classes, I was hired as Scott Connolly’s events assistant and worked with him to plan and host most of the school’s events. As I got better at defrosting Tuesday lunches and filled more bellies with warm food, it seemed that I became better known. I started out as "The New Fred" (Fred Rodriguez was Scott’s assistant in the years before my arrival), but by the end of the first year had earned my own name and was elected Student Body President.
It was the year that the school was in Diaspora. The staff and some of the faculty had offices, but there was no centralized building for classes or events. I helped create a student lounge in the front apartment at the Le Conte housing and worked with a great council of Dominican brothers and lay students to build community and foster a sense of school unity within our diverse population.
When I graduated from DSPT in 2007, diversity was a hot button issue because of our WASC accreditation. Now due to current events at the GTU diversity rears its head as a hot button issue once more. With a superficial glance, it might seem to the outsider that there is a lack of diversity on our campus. To the contrary, I discovered that our population of students, faculty, and staff is very diverse, and building community here is an interesting challenge. In our community of scholars we have bio-chemists, lawyers, business executives, bankers, physicists, and poets (just to name a few). Lay and religious, philosopher and theologian…all come here in search of the Truth or at least to grasp some aspect of it; and the papers and theses that have been produced here express insights on vast number of topics. Many of our students use their degrees to work in the church or to teach, but some of our graduates have taken more unusual paths. Whether they are heading to law school, working with a signing gorilla, or dressing opera singers in mullets and fat suits, our alumni carry with them the knowledge and experiences gained at DSPT. They go out into the world to be witnesses of their faith and education.
After graduating with honors from DSPT, I travelled the country with a small theatre show called The 3 Redneck Tenors. I designed costumes and ran wardrobe. Before and after the show, I would explore whichever small town we were performing in. Sometimes I just took in the scenery, but I often found I had the opportunity to be a witness to my faith and education by being open to the new people I met. Our show took us from small towns such as Albemarle, NC and Redding, CA to big cities like Baltimore, MD and Las Vegas, NV and I discovered that most people have a real need to talk about their faith and their worldview. I credit the diversity of ideas and scholarship that is integral to education at DSPT for providing me with the courage and tools I’ve used in talking with others and helping them to broaden their understanding of God and life.
In the 2009-2010 school year, I am returning to the DSPT as the new Director of Students Services and Office Manager. I am excited to have the opportunity to help the students, faculty, and staff at the school come together and continue to build community. I look forward to seeing how our community of scholars has grown in the past two years and what new and different experiences, traditions, and ideas this year’s student body will bring.
It was the year that the school was in Diaspora. The staff and some of the faculty had offices, but there was no centralized building for classes or events. I helped create a student lounge in the front apartment at the Le Conte housing and worked with a great council of Dominican brothers and lay students to build community and foster a sense of school unity within our diverse population.
When I graduated from DSPT in 2007, diversity was a hot button issue because of our WASC accreditation. Now due to current events at the GTU diversity rears its head as a hot button issue once more. With a superficial glance, it might seem to the outsider that there is a lack of diversity on our campus. To the contrary, I discovered that our population of students, faculty, and staff is very diverse, and building community here is an interesting challenge. In our community of scholars we have bio-chemists, lawyers, business executives, bankers, physicists, and poets (just to name a few). Lay and religious, philosopher and theologian…all come here in search of the Truth or at least to grasp some aspect of it; and the papers and theses that have been produced here express insights on vast number of topics. Many of our students use their degrees to work in the church or to teach, but some of our graduates have taken more unusual paths. Whether they are heading to law school, working with a signing gorilla, or dressing opera singers in mullets and fat suits, our alumni carry with them the knowledge and experiences gained at DSPT. They go out into the world to be witnesses of their faith and education.
After graduating with honors from DSPT, I travelled the country with a small theatre show called The 3 Redneck Tenors. I designed costumes and ran wardrobe. Before and after the show, I would explore whichever small town we were performing in. Sometimes I just took in the scenery, but I often found I had the opportunity to be a witness to my faith and education by being open to the new people I met. Our show took us from small towns such as Albemarle, NC and Redding, CA to big cities like Baltimore, MD and Las Vegas, NV and I discovered that most people have a real need to talk about their faith and their worldview. I credit the diversity of ideas and scholarship that is integral to education at DSPT for providing me with the courage and tools I’ve used in talking with others and helping them to broaden their understanding of God and life.
In the 2009-2010 school year, I am returning to the DSPT as the new Director of Students Services and Office Manager. I am excited to have the opportunity to help the students, faculty, and staff at the school come together and continue to build community. I look forward to seeing how our community of scholars has grown in the past two years and what new and different experiences, traditions, and ideas this year’s student body will bring.
A Culture of Philanthrophy: The Path From Evangelical Protestant to Dominican Priest
By Fr. Raphael Mary Salzillo, OP
My name is Fr. Raphael Mary and I have been a priest for about a month and a half. I did my philosophical and theological studies at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA. I graduated at the end of May and was ordained a priest just a week later. After a whirlwind vacation of visiting family and friends, I arrived at my new assignment – Blessed Sacrament Parish in Seattle. I am really only a “baby priest” and have a lot to learn. But I would like to share with you a little of my journey and how Our Lord brought me to this point.
My path to the priesthood has been a long and winding one. I grew up in an Evangelical Protestant family, in a little town on the Oregon coast. It was through my mother that I first became interested in Catholicism, at the age of fifteen. Through a long and turbulent process of wrestling with God, I finally decided to become Catholic. Little did I know where this road that I was grudgingly setting out on would one day lead me!
At the age of sixteen, just one year after becoming Catholic, I had a spiritual experience during the Holy Mass that made me suspect that God was calling me to the priesthood. I rejected it out of hand at the time. Even though I loved God very much, I had no desire, nor was I willing to give my life to Him in that way.
As a teenager, I was far from being spiritually or intellectually mature enough to understand clearly what being Catholic meant. I like to say that I became Catholic at fifteen and then spent the next eight years trying to figure out what I had done! Fortunately the Holy Spirit was there every step of the way to nudge me in the direction He wanted me to go (there were times that nudge was less gentle than at other times – the Lord always seems to know just how much force to use).
I studied Applied Physics and was working on my PhD when God started to soften my heart and open me to the possibility that I was being called to the religious life and the priesthood. Thankfully, He put just the right people around me to encourage and support me in this vocation.
It was eight years ago that I finally answered the call by entering the Dominican Order as a novice at St. Albert Priory in Oakland. I made my Simple Profession at the end of my novice year and then began what would be six years of graduate study in philosophy and theology at the DSPT.
As a student at DSPT I found myself engaged in a community of scholars pursuing studies solidly rooted in the Catholic faith and seeking to provide answers to the concerns of our time. The school makes no bones about being faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, while at the same time reaching out to engage in dialogue with many different viewpoints and ideologies. St. Thomas Aquinas is the guiding light and the starting point for both philosophy and theology at DSPT. The school is animated by a conviction that the truths of reason and faith that St. Thomas illuminated so well are still both relevant and necessary in the modern world. Ultimately, the mission of DSPT is to evangelize our culture – to bring the light and truth of Christ to a world that so often seems to have turned its back on him.
My life has changed so suddenly in these past days. Celebrating the Mass daily, hearing confessions, and preaching are all new and fresh for me and I hope they remain so, even as I grow in age and experience. Through it all, I am profoundly grateful for the education I received at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. DSPT is truly a gem and an oasis in a time when the dictatorship of relativism seems to be so powerful.
There are many others continuing on a similar path toward the priesthood right behind me. So that these students and future priests may enjoy the same solid academic experience I have benefited from, I ask you to consider prayerfully what you can afford to give to the School. Please consider donating your time and your talents or make a contribution to the Annual Fund. When you give of your time or your money to the Dominican School you are directly helping to form the future leaders of the Church, both priests and laity.
I ask for your prayers at this exciting and complicated time as I begin my priesthood. May Our Lord richly bless you and your family and draw you ever closer to Himself.
In Christ,
Fr. Raphael Mary Salzillo, O.P.
My name is Fr. Raphael Mary and I have been a priest for about a month and a half. I did my philosophical and theological studies at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA. I graduated at the end of May and was ordained a priest just a week later. After a whirlwind vacation of visiting family and friends, I arrived at my new assignment – Blessed Sacrament Parish in Seattle. I am really only a “baby priest” and have a lot to learn. But I would like to share with you a little of my journey and how Our Lord brought me to this point.
My path to the priesthood has been a long and winding one. I grew up in an Evangelical Protestant family, in a little town on the Oregon coast. It was through my mother that I first became interested in Catholicism, at the age of fifteen. Through a long and turbulent process of wrestling with God, I finally decided to become Catholic. Little did I know where this road that I was grudgingly setting out on would one day lead me!
At the age of sixteen, just one year after becoming Catholic, I had a spiritual experience during the Holy Mass that made me suspect that God was calling me to the priesthood. I rejected it out of hand at the time. Even though I loved God very much, I had no desire, nor was I willing to give my life to Him in that way.
As a teenager, I was far from being spiritually or intellectually mature enough to understand clearly what being Catholic meant. I like to say that I became Catholic at fifteen and then spent the next eight years trying to figure out what I had done! Fortunately the Holy Spirit was there every step of the way to nudge me in the direction He wanted me to go (there were times that nudge was less gentle than at other times – the Lord always seems to know just how much force to use).
I studied Applied Physics and was working on my PhD when God started to soften my heart and open me to the possibility that I was being called to the religious life and the priesthood. Thankfully, He put just the right people around me to encourage and support me in this vocation.
It was eight years ago that I finally answered the call by entering the Dominican Order as a novice at St. Albert Priory in Oakland. I made my Simple Profession at the end of my novice year and then began what would be six years of graduate study in philosophy and theology at the DSPT.
As a student at DSPT I found myself engaged in a community of scholars pursuing studies solidly rooted in the Catholic faith and seeking to provide answers to the concerns of our time. The school makes no bones about being faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, while at the same time reaching out to engage in dialogue with many different viewpoints and ideologies. St. Thomas Aquinas is the guiding light and the starting point for both philosophy and theology at DSPT. The school is animated by a conviction that the truths of reason and faith that St. Thomas illuminated so well are still both relevant and necessary in the modern world. Ultimately, the mission of DSPT is to evangelize our culture – to bring the light and truth of Christ to a world that so often seems to have turned its back on him.
My life has changed so suddenly in these past days. Celebrating the Mass daily, hearing confessions, and preaching are all new and fresh for me and I hope they remain so, even as I grow in age and experience. Through it all, I am profoundly grateful for the education I received at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. DSPT is truly a gem and an oasis in a time when the dictatorship of relativism seems to be so powerful.
There are many others continuing on a similar path toward the priesthood right behind me. So that these students and future priests may enjoy the same solid academic experience I have benefited from, I ask you to consider prayerfully what you can afford to give to the School. Please consider donating your time and your talents or make a contribution to the Annual Fund. When you give of your time or your money to the Dominican School you are directly helping to form the future leaders of the Church, both priests and laity.
I ask for your prayers at this exciting and complicated time as I begin my priesthood. May Our Lord richly bless you and your family and draw you ever closer to Himself.
In Christ,
Fr. Raphael Mary Salzillo, O.P.
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